Monday, July 31, 2006

Recs?

30 comments:

well, how about an Icelandic saga or two. I am currently reading Njal's Saga. It is kind of repetetive in some places, but I love this one character, although he doesn't last long, named Sven, and he is a witch. There is this one character who has a habit of killing people and when he has to hide out for a while he goes to Sven's and he tells him what happened and why he had to flee. Sven tells him that he likes a man of action and takes him in for a while. It is kind of funny.

I'm sure I won't be much help, as I'm still in my funk, but I'd say a really good reread might be in order. I'm semi-reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Rushdie and I'm almost into it. It's the closest I've gotten in over a week!

Or maybe go get the new Fables?

And have you thought about trying Frank Miller's Sin City? I sort of liked the movie but the comic looks awesome.

Confessions of a Shopaholic. If you like funny this series is it! I just finished the 4th book and have since gotten 4 of my friends hooked on REbecca Bloomwood, the lead character. Sophie Kinsella is an awesomely funny writer!

Hmm. I'm reading 'The Castle of Otranto' atm, that's quite good so far, kind of the literary equivalent of a goth ballgown.

I would also totally recommend The Butterfly Tattoo, (it's also called The White Mercedes) by Phillip Pullman, which is probably one of my favourite books ever. It tears me up every time I read it. Anything Pullman is great, come to that.

Terry Pratchett is great, I don't know if you like that kind of thing. If you haven't read anything by him, don't start with Colour of Magic, it's nowhere near as good as some of his later ones. The Monstrous regiment is my favourite, anout a girl who joins the army. Only book anout war I haven't been able to put down. The Guards ones are also good.

If you fancy some YA, there's a a trilogy about Medieval Japan that begins with Across the Nightingale Floor that's brilliant, as is William Nicholson's Wind on Fire trilogy - slow starer, but it gets really good.

I don't know what you like to read, or what you have already read. Consequently anything I mention here you might find either redundant or boring. And as a fledgling literary scholar, I would guess that you've read just about anything I could suggest in terms of fiction.

I'll list five books that I did like, however. Decide for yourself:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison;

The Perfect Spy by John La Carre;

Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley;

Native Son by Richard Wright;

and the only work of non-fiction (it does, however discuss a particular history of literature). The Cultural Cold War by Frances Stoner Saunders.

I was looking at your reading list for this year and since you've read 'The Wizard of Oz' I thought you might also like 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass'.

I don't have much to recommend from this year (it's been kind of a sad reading year so far) but last year I read 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' by Jon McGregor and omg it was amazing. Also he has a new book out now so if you like the first one, not a long wait to read his other work. Also I keep trying hard to push 'The Piano Tuner' by Daniel Mason because it came as an editor's choice I didn't think I woudl like and it's on the 'permenant' shelf of my bookcase going on 4 years now. Finally a modern novel in verse, hmm intrigued? Start with Vikram Seth's 'The Golden Gate'.